The top 5 November Nine stories

With the final table delay concept being retired we look back at some of the biggest stories from nine years of the November Nine.

5. Everyone gets coaches

One of the most interesting twists about the four month break was the informational advantage it gave the players. Not only did they learn much more about their opponents because of the ESPN footage, they also got a chance to brush up on their own poker skills ahead of the final.

This led to many of the November Niners getting high profile coaches to help them train for the final table. Jesse Sylvia enlisted the help of Vanessa Selbst, Russell Thomas recruited Jason Somerville and Amir Levahot got tells expert Zach Elwood to help him out. Mental game coach Jared Tendler has coached Jorryt Van Hoof, Max Steinberg and Kenny Hallaert. Phil Hellmuth was hired to coach Federico Butteroni but then pulled out as it conflicted with his ESPN broadcasting commitments.

This also led to a lot of the finalists creating simulations of the final table with their friends, using exact chip stacks, table positions and getting their friends to adopt the same playing style as the seat they occupy. A rare instance where poker had its own version of practice.

4. Newhouse comes 9th, twice

In many ways it could be considered the greatest Main Event achievement in the modern game, had he not dismissed it himself so famously.

It always sucks for the player who waits four months to bust out 9th, and thus wins no extra money than what was awarded to them for 9th place when the final table paused. But for Mark Newhouse it was especially painful.

He came 9th in 2013 for $733,224 and 9th in 2014 for $730,725. An amazing feat in itself, but given this is what he tweeted between the two events, he probably does not agree:

Just bought into the main event day 1c. Not fucking finishing 9th again

— mark newhouse (@mark_hizzle) July 7, 2014

3. November Niners win big elsewhere

A remarkable phenomenon that had occurred since the inception of the November Nine is that a lot of the participants went on to have some success during the four month final table delay.

In 2008, Ivan Demidov came third in the WSOPE Main Event before coming second at the November Nine final table.

The following year, both James Akenhead and Antoine Saout did the very same thing, making the WSOPE final table before resuming the Main Event.

2011 was a massive year for success during the break, as not only did Sam Holden return to the final table as Late Night Poker champion, but Matt Giannetti came back to the table with the WPT Malta title and an extra €200,000.

Last year Gordon Vayo took down the River Series Main Event for almost $600,000 and Kenny Hallaert took down an online major during the break.

Almost every year somebody took down at least six-figures during the break and even more have gone on to win majors after the final table. No doubt this is in part because of momentum and also having the 9th place money awarded to them as a handy bankroll during the break. 

2. Phil Ivey makes the November Nine

One of the purposes of the November Nine concept was to make stars of the final table before it played out. That wasn't going to happen in 2009, as one man dominated the coverage during the four month delay - Phil Ivey.

Lots of big names have made the November Nine including Martin Jacobson, Michael Mizrachi, Cliff Josephy, JC Tran, Griffin Benger and David Benefield. However, when the commonly agreed best player in the world makes the final table, it is natural that all eyes would be on him.

Unfortunately for Ivey fans he didn't come to the table with many chips and exited early in 7th place, leaving Joe Cada to win it.

It was probably good news, however, for the high stakes poker community. Ivey was said to have booked millions of dollars worth of bracelet bets going into this event, and if rumours were true potentially could have won more in side bets than the official top prize of $8,547,044.

1. Major endorsement deals

Although a lot of people didn't love the concept of the November Nine initially, one thing which made it popular among players was the guaranteed sponsorship that came with it.

Prior to Black Friday, making the final table of the Main Event guaranteed that you could get a PokerStars or Full Tilt deal, most likely worth seven figures and more in bonuses if you went on to win.

This is what made making the final table as coveted as winning a bracelet outright. Sadly for all concerned, it was also one the first things which disappeared after Black Friday. There have been sponsors for some of the players since then (888poker in particular were busy in this department) but pre-Black Friday a lot of players made life changing money before the first hand of the final table was even dealt.

What was your best memory of the November Nine? Let us know in the comments: